BILL NUMBER: SB 636	AMENDED
	BILL TEXT

	AMENDED IN SENATE  APRIL 7, 2015

INTRODUCED BY   Senator Liu
   (Principal coauthor: Assembly Member Weber)
   (Coauthors: Senators Hancock  , Wieckowski,  and Wolk)
   (Coauthors: Assembly Members Bonilla,  Calderon, 
 Bonta,   Calderon,   Campos,  Chiu,
Dodd, Frazier, McCarty, and Santiago)

                        FEBRUARY 27, 2015

   An act to add Chapter 6.1 (commencing with Section 13710) to Part
3 of Division 9 of the Welfare and Institutions Code, relating to
public social services.



	LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST


   SB 636, as amended, Liu. Homeless youth: basic material needs
assistance.
   Existing law establishes various public social services programs
to provide protection, care, and assistance to the people of the
state in need of those services, by providing appropriate aid and
services to the needy and distressed. Existing law establishes
homeless youth emergency service pilot projects in the Counties of
Los Angeles, San Diego, Santa Clara, and San Francisco.
   This bill would create the Homeless Youth Basic Material Needs
Assistance Program. This bill would require that moneys appropriated
by the Legislature for the purposes of the program be allocated
proportionally by the State Department of Social Services to each
county program based on the number of homeless youth in the county.
The bill would authorize a county to establish the program or request
the department to administer the program, in which case the
department would be required to retain the county's proportional
share of funds and directly administer a program in that county. The
bill would authorize a county to join with one or more other counties
for the purpose of pooling their respective allocations and
establishing a program for those counties. The bill would require
each program to solicit proposals from, and contract with, nonprofit
organizations for the purpose of providing basic material needs
assistance to homeless youth in the county or counties as directed by
the entity administering the program. The bill would require
contracted nonprofit organizations to, among other things, provide a
minimum of 25% matching funds, as specified.  The bill would
require each contracted nonprofit to prepare a report for the
administering entity including, among other information, the number
of homeless youth assisted. The bill would require the department,
after the program has been operating   for 3 years, to issue
a report including, among other information, the number of homeless
youth assisted each year, and a description of the assistance
provided. 
   Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: yes.
State-mandated local program: no.


THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:

  SECTION 1.  The Legislature finds and declares all of the
following:
   (a) During the 2013-14 academic year, 297,617 children and youth
enrolled in local educational agencies in California were identified
as homeless, as defined by the federal McKinney-Vento Homeless
Assistance Act (42 U.S.C. Sec. 11301 et seq.). This population is
several times more than that of any other state in the nation and
equates to one homeless student in every classroom.
   (b)  The   This  federal definition of
homelessness is used by all public schools in the United States, the
Head Start program, and special education, child nutrition, and other
federal family and youth programs. It includes children and youth
who lack a fixed, regular, and adequate nighttime residence,
including those who live in shelters, transitional housing, cars,
campgrounds, motels, or who share the housing of others temporarily
due to loss of housing, economic hardship, or similar reasons.
   (c) A significant barrier to success faced by homeless children
and youth is access to basic materials including school supplies,
shoes, hygienic and dental products, and other basic necessities.
This and the accompanying low self-esteem lead to absenteeism and
truancy, which prevents homeless youth from obtaining the education
that is both their legal right and their best opportunity to escape
poverty.
   (d) According to numerous homeless liaisons throughout California
that represent more than 70 percent of California's homeless children
and youth, the overwhelming majority of this population does not
have their basic material needs met.
   (e) The local control funding formula does not specifically
address the unmet basic material needs of homeless children and
youth.
   (f) This act addresses this barrier to success by articulating a
state policy framework to provide the most basic unmet material needs
of homeless children and youth, while also utilizing matching
resources and leveraging federal funds to ensure program stability
and longevity. This act is designed to ensure that all homeless
public school students have their basic material needs met so they
can attend school on a more equal playing field with their peers.

   (g) It is the intent of the Legislature that funds appropriated by
the Legislature for this program not exceed an average allocation of
twenty-five dollars and twenty cents ($25.20) per pupil, with the
assumption of a participation rate of not more than 297,619 homeless
youth, or the number from the most recent count of homeless youth,
whichever is lesser. 
  SEC. 2.  Chapter 6.1 (commencing with Section 13710) is added to
Part 3 of Division 9 of the Welfare and Institutions Code, to read:
      CHAPTER 6.1.  HOMELESS YOUTH BASIC MATERIAL NEEDS ASSISTANCE
PROGRAM


   13710.  This chapter shall be known, and may be cited, as the
Homeless Youth Basic Material Needs Assistance Program.
   13712.  For purposes of this chapter, the following definitions
apply:
   (a) "Additional material needs assistance" means clothes,
blankets, and access to shelter.
   (b) "Administering entity" means one of the following:
   (1) A county that elects to establish a program and does not join
with another county as described in subdivision  (c)
  (b)  of Section 13714.
   (2) A county designated as the lead county, if two or more
counties elect to establish a program jointly under subdivision
 (c)   (b)  of Section 13714.
   (3) The department, if a county declines to establish a program or
requests the department to administer the program.
   (c) "Basic material needs assistance" means school supplies,
dental supplies and other hygienic products, shoes,  and
socks.   socks, and underwear. 
   (d) "Department" means the State Department of Social Services.
   (e) "Homeless youth" has the same meaning as that term is defined
in Section 11434a of Title 42 of the United States Code.
   (f) "Nonprofit organization" means a nonprofit corporation
qualified to do business in California and qualified under Section
501(c)(3) of the federal Internal Revenue Code.
   (g) "Program" means the Homeless Youth Basic Material Needs
Assistance Program.
   13714.  (a) From moneys appropriated by the Legislature for the
purpose of this chapter, the department shall allocate a proportional
amount to each county program pursuant to this chapter based on that
county's respective number of homeless youth. The moneys allocated
to the county shall be used to establish and operate a Homeless Youth
Basic Material Needs Assistance Program for homeless youth in that
county.
   (b) A county may join with one or more other counties for the
purpose of pooling the allocations made to the counties under this
section and establishing a program for those counties.
   (c) If a county declines to establish a program or requests the
department to administer the program, the department shall retain the
county's proportional share of funds and shall directly administer a
program for homeless youth in that county, including  the
performance of   contracting with a nonprofit and 
 performing all duties set forth in this chapter.
   13716.  Each administering entity shall do all of the following:
   (a) Solicit proposals from nonprofit organizations for the purpose
of providing basic material needs assistance to homeless youth in
the manner directed by the administering entity, subject to the
requirements imposed by this chapter.
   (b) Select and contract with one or more nonprofit organizations
to participate in the program based on the proposals solicited under
subdivision (a). Selection of a nonprofit organization shall be based
on the following criteria:
   (1) Demonstrated ability to form partnerships with local
educational agencies (LEAs).
   (2) Demonstrated ability to provide basic material needs
assistance to homeless or low-income youth by working with LEAs.
   (3) Ability to work with the homeless liaison of each LEA pursuant
to Section 11432(g)(1)(J)(ii) of Title 42 of the United States Code,
or his or her LEA-employed designee.
   (4) Demonstrated ability to generate additional matching funds or
in-kind resources for similar programs.
   (c) Require each nonprofit organization contracted under
subdivision (b) to do all of the following:
   (1) Notify the homeless liaison of a county office of education of
the organization's intent to enter into new partnership agreements
with the LEAs in that county.
   (2) Form or maintain partnerships with LEAs for the purpose of
providing basic material needs assistance to homeless youth.
   (3) Notify the homeless liaison of a county office of education
each time a basic material needs assistance program commences or is
renewed.
   (4) Provide basic material needs assistance to homeless youth,
giving first priority to hygiene, dental, and school supply needs. A
nonprofit organization may use other resources or demonstrated
savings to provide additional material needs assistance.
   (5) Provide at least a 25-percent match for all moneys received
from the administering entity under this chapter. If the nonprofit
organization provides in-kind materials toward the 25-percent match,
the value of the in-kind materials contributing to a 25-percent match
shall be verified by the donor of the materials and shall not exceed
the market value of the materials if sold at retail. Any amounts
provided by the nonprofit organization that exceed the 25-percent
match constitute demonstrated savings that may be used in accordance
with paragraph (4).
   (6) Consult with the children and families commission of the
county or counties served by the program to determine how to best
provide basic material needs assistance to homeless youth from birth
to  5   five  years of age, inclusive, if
the administering entity elects to include homeless youth of that age
in its program. 
   (7) Following each distribution cycle, each contracted nonprofit
shall prepare a report for the administering entity. The report shall
include, but not be limited to, the following information: 

   (A) The number of homeless youth assisted.  
   (B) The locations of the distributions.  
   (C) The date or range of dates of distributions.  
   (D) Descriptions of the materials distributed.  
   (E) A letter from each LEA, shelter, or other partnering entity,
verifying the information submitted pursuant to subparagraphs (A)
through (D), inclusive.  
   (F) Original letters from all donors contributing any in-kind
materials counting toward the required match.  
   13718.  After three years of operation of the program, the
department shall issue a simplified report including the following
information:
   (a) The number of homeless youth assisted each year.
   (b) A description of the assistance provided.
   (c) The total match leveraged and the match leveraged by each
county.
   (d) A scanned or paper copy of the original letters from each LEA
or other partner, as described in paragraph (7) of subdivision (c) of
Section 13716.
   (e) Any significant achievements in absenteeism reduction,
improved academic outcomes, improved living or social outcomes, and
any other significant improvements.